A former senior adviser and close friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he doesn’t think Trudeau will still lead the Liberals in the next election.
Gerald Butts writes in a Substack newsletter today that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s recent cabinet resignation dealt Trudeau a stunning blow that loosened his already tenuous grip on the party.
He says Trudeau was “unlikely” to lead the party in the next campaign before Freeland’s surprise departure and “now he is much less likely to do so.”
Butts says this also means the next election will likely come sooner rather than later next year and is even more likely to result in a Conservative majority government.
Just a week ago, Butts joined the Liberal Christmas party in Ottawa along with Trudeau’s chief of staff and close confidant Katie Telford.
Butts says if Trudeau resigns, the party should hold a leadership race instead of anointing Freeland or anyone else as leader.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024.